Three Technology Brands Using Social Media Effectively

For any companies who are looking at social media and wondering how it can be best utilized or for those who are already involved but feel they are not making the most of social media’s platforms, the following three examples highlight companies who are using social media effectively.

IBM

It should probably come as little surprise that one of the technology giants has fully embraced social media in an innovative way. A sign of how serious IBM takes social media is that they have appointed a social media manager who oversees the company’s activities.

IBM has a presence across most of social media, but perhaps their greatest innovation is the way in which they positively encourage their employees to use social media to discuss their work. This can include what they’re working on at the moment, plans for the future and even new products.

There is a central concept here that many companies should consider: IBM believes the best way to showcase its work and products is via its own staff. Their talent and enthusiasm acts as a great commercial for all they do and by allowing its staff to use social media, the company is showing its faith in its employees and by extension customers feel more comfortable and engaged by the brand.

Xerox

Unlike IBM, Xerox took their time dipping their toes in the social media water. However, this should not be seen as a negative decision as many companies who have been similarly hesitant should take note of Xerox’s approach.

The company now has a clear social media strategy that involves increasing awareness of its brand, products and services. They go about this by not just using the usual Facebook pages, Twitter posts and YouTube channel, but by encouraging employees to use social media to contact one another to discuss their work, thus creating a vibrant community.

Hewlett-Packard

Of all technology companies to embrace social media, Hewlett Packard (HP) has had one of the most dynamic and innovative approaches to getting the most out of the medium for both their customers and themselves.

Realizing that there was an untapped target audience in the shape of young people, they initiated Listen 2U, which is a website dedicated to being a platform for young people to help their talents flourish in areas such as movie production.

This approach works on two fronts: firstly it provided a much-needed resource for young people to nurture and make the most of their talents and secondly, by including a linked page to their products, HP have positioned their products as those used by creative and talented people.

This cross-fertilization of ideas and products to help the ideas become an end product is a superb example of the possibilities of social media and demonstrates how forward-thinking companies can use social media effectively to benefit both themselves and their customers.

About the author: Eric Rivers is a freelance writer for a technology company that operates in more than 170 countries around the world. Some of their most successful products are their laptop and toner.

Comments

I really think that in the last few years these major brands have woken up to the power of social media. However, it still seems that many are not and I feel that those are being left behind.Jessie would love you to read ..Car loans rates for bad credit applicants

I’m a cynic but I do believe social media will eventually lose its tag and just become the norm – it’s all about proving you’re “out there” and “real” – without it, you may not even exist in the eyes of search engines!

It’s not that big of a surprise, considering how massive the influence of social media has in the online world. I’m very glad that more and more people are opting in to use the social networking sites for their advantage, especially the small businesses. I’m expecting bigger things from it this coming 2012.

Spot on article… Social Media can be a boost to any business large or small, you just have to take it serious when using it for business marketing.Mike Storzieri would love you to read ..10 Twitter Tools For Serious Tweeple

Your read was a revelation! It is interesting to know big companies also utilize social media to reach their not so evident consumers. Till now I have been used to seeing small and medium enterprises using this technology in furthering their businesses.

I like your post!It’s really informative.Social media is indeed very helpful both for large and small businesses.More and more businesses are using this tool to increase exposure of their business and build an online presence.In fact it is the growing trend of business now a days.Thanks for the share.sylvia would love you to read ..ROR Sitemap for http-wwwcaliforniaduihelpcom-

Nice article. Really interesting point you have made – “…cross-fertilization of ideas and products to help the ideas become an end product is a superb example of the possibilities of social media and demonstrates how forward-thinking companies can use social media effectively to benefit both themselves and their customers.”

Strange that some techno companies have been slow to take up social networking. Publishing companies seem to have taken to it a lot faster, but maybe it’s easier to create a community around books than to do the same with branded techno products – unless you do as HP have done and reach out to new markets.

Yes Xerox social media best 🙂 Social media tools expand the possibilities of competitive intelligence by driving collaboration. An Australian arrested over the Red Shirt protest. XGS used social media tools and principles to create Competipedia, a wiki-based tool where salespeople can go to find and share competitive intelligence.

Using Social Media for marketing can be tricky but using it for building and taking care of a good customer relationship it almost is mandatory.
Just look at Twitter and Facebook , meanwhile every big company is using it with success.Rick would love you to read ..Kayak Fishing Safety Advices

I think Google is doing a good job too. Although their brand it’s omnipresent they don’t leave it that way. I see they are present on facebook, twitter and not with one account only, but they have lots about everything from adwords to chrome and all in between.

Also, I want to mention an other big player that doesn’t seem to use social media: Microsoft. Their presence is practically none, only some fans here and there(and although they have blogs, almost about anything, to interact with microsoft customers/fans, I think maintaining some contacts via social networks would help).

My guess is that most companies don’t yet know the scale of social networks and interaction and that’s why they don’t really push it that hard. Maybe in a couple of years, when I am sure social internet will go to it’s next step all the companies will flock to twitter, facebook etc.Alex would love you to read ..Masinutele tamponante

Most companies use social media but do not do it correctly. They do not interact enough with their clients or potential clients. Instead they just keep promoting their products in a spammy way. I think soon enough we’ll find a social media department in every major company. That would be something.

Thanks for that information. My concern is, is it not risky to allow employees to get involved in socia media about their work,company projects and new products? I listened to the news yesterday about 3 Renault employees who have been suspended in suspicion for leaking valuable information about the Renault electric car project.Alexis would love you to read ..Affiliate Marketing Business- A Modern Day Phenomenon

There is no wonder why the three brands maintained their position in the business world. They know how to utilize their resources and make use of the latest marketing techniques. Twitter and Facebook can really be a great help in reaching out to your customers.

Social medians were a big plus for an online business. We often neglected the fact that even just a simple tweets could make a difference. Like the use of Twitter, I do believe in the effectiveness of this tool. Such a simple yet so useful. That is why, you have to take good care of your profiles credibility, don’t just spam Twitter for it can help you a lot.

Those are three great examples that I didn’t know of. I agree with the last comment that Cisco really does a great job too. Another one that I particularly like is HBO. Perhaps it’s because I’m a big fan of their shows, but I think it’s great how you can “like” each show on Facebook, which sends out links, articles, quotes etc, and something similar on Twitter. It allows a fun playground for fans to interact and enjoy the show together.

Facebook is a real challenge because you almost need a company that specializes in creating Custom Facebook Fan Pages or Facebook Advertising to make what you offer there usable.

I personally really dislike Facebook and have to force myself to use it because it their usability is so awful. My frustration often ends up as Tweets like the one yesterday suggesting they hire a usability expert or at least buy Steve Krug’s book Don’t Make Me Think.

Everyone involved in what appears on a Web site needs to read that book and keep a copy handy. More information and links to Steve’s site and books at the bottom of my post about Increasing Conversions.

When you comment in blogs that offer KeywordLuv it is a good idea to precede your desired keyword phrase with your name (or a pen name) because many bloggers and their readers feel that is friendlier and your comments are less likely to be deleted.

If you want to have a successful online business you NEED to have a strong social media presence. I agree with you Randy. I am amazed to see some big corporations that are still not even on twitter or facebook. They are definitely not taking advantage of the social media sites that could be getting their brand out there even more!

I second that and would also like to suggest that every serious Web site owner or blogger MUST at least USE Twitter. (Log in at least once a day or you’ll miss important opportunities.)

Twitter is the fast way for us to contact each other when we don’t have an established relationship yet. Why would you care?

1) Because other bloggers will let you know if your site is down or your contact page doesn’t work and will be able to help you get it fixed.

2) So we can easily recommend you and your blog. Be sure to put your Twitter username in an easy to locate place (upper left corner is best) and make it findable on search (i.e., text not image only). If you do that when I review your content on StumbleUpon and send it out to Twitter, Facebook and FriendFeed it will have your Twitter username in it too = more followers, more traffic, and eventually more income.growmap would love you to read ..Exceptional Bloggers for FollowFriday Link Roundup

It astounds me to discover large companies that still are not using even the most minimalist social media strategies At the very least they should tweet all approved corporate communications, such as press releases. Even the most mundane companies likely have a core of loyal customers or vendors that would like use Facebook to learn more. about tthemRandy Pickard would love you to read ..What You Can Learn From Alexa Trend Reports

Big Brands and Corporations often have very strict guidelines for their employees against speaking out publicly. When I worked for IBM (23 years) we were expressly prohibited from speaking to the Press and told to direct them to contact the official PR people. (I don’t remember what they were called even though we had annual training to reinforce that – it has been ten years since I worked at IBM.)

Interesting that you should mention Cisco. Just before I resigned from IBM I found out they were paying their entry level Customer Engineers aka SSRs 3-4 times what IBM was paying their highest paid field service technicians.

On top of that they had company cars. No one at IBM has a company car and we drove so many miles that what IBM reimbursed us would not come close to what it cost to replace the cars we wore out.

In small offices where customers are far apart and for those techs who back up remote territories it is not uncommon to drive 50,000+ miles a year. No American car would last long enough to pay it off even back when car loans were only 3 years so our parking lot would have made an excellent Honda commercial.

At one point almost all of us drove Hondas. I bought mine used with 100,000+ miles on them (for $2000-$3000 back then) and drove them for almost 100,000 more miles before I replaced them when they died or couldn’t make 2-3 hour trips any more.

A worn out Honda can be used within 30-60 miles almost indefinitely (and if they break down you are close to assistance) so I often sold them for $300-$600 or gave them to someone who needed transportation – with the warning not to drive them further or the engines would be done.